WiFi Manager scans the entire wireless network for unconfigured Access points using factory default SSID settings. When such an Access point is found, this alert is raised.
What is a SSID ?
SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier. This is a sequence of characters that uniquely names a wireless LAN and differentiates one WLAN from another. To participate in a wireless LAN all devices must use the same (case sensitive) SSID as that of the wireless LAN.
What are the problems in using the default SSID ?
Access points shipped by wireless equipment manufacturers usually come with default values for most of the parameters like SSID, login id, password, SNMP read/write community, channel in which the Access point has to operate etc., Some of the Access point models and the default SSID used by them are highlighted below -
Default SSID in use
Cisco Aironet
tsunami
3Com AirConnect
comcomcom
Symbol Technologies
Symbol
The above said default values are public knowledge and are made available to public by the equipment manufacturers via their website, user manuals, installation guides etc., Using these default values makes the network vulnerable. Hackers while trying to get into the network typically try all these default values. So, it is not a good idea to use these default values.
What should the WLAN Administrator do ?
Before plugging-in the devices into the network, the administrators should take care to change all the default values. They should also define good corporate policies/rules for defining the usernames, passwords, SNMP communities, SSID etc., which will make it very difficult for any outsider to guess these values. They should also use good tools to keep track of these values in different devices and keep changing them periodically.